Attention and Memory Filter Theory Attention is SELECTIVE Assumed that people have a limited capacity for sensory information They screen incoming information to let in only the most important material o How have researchers studied this concept Change Blindness the failure to notice large changes in ones environment The Whodunnit video The people asking for directions where the asker changes o What was the point of the attention task e g passes made by the team dressed in white presented in class Inattentional Blindness an individual fails to recognize an unexpected stimulus that is in plain sight See how aware we really are of our surroundings Examples of when this concept might occur in the real world Drivers and o Bikers o Stop signs lights In class example Conley the policeman was chasing a suspects and also ran by other policemen violently attacking someone else and Conley claimed to not have noticed it What was the point of the Whodunnit example presented in class Refer back to the Change Blindness bullet point and Filter Theory Models Of Memory Information Processing of Memory o Encoding The processing of information so that it can be stored o Storage The retention of encoded representations over time o Retrieval The act of recalling or remembering stored information when it is needed o Many psychologist viewed MEMORY the nervous systems capacity to acquire and retain skills and knowledge as analogous to the ways computers process information Atkinson and Shiffrin s Model o By contrast A S model emphasized tat memory storage varies in duration and capacity Sensory Memory being flashed a picture for a fraction of a second but when it disappears the image still lingers a little bit Short Term Memory Amemory storage system that briefly holds a limited amount of information in awareness Long Term Memory The relatively permanent storage of information o Working Memory is active An active processing system that keeps different types of information available for current use Sounds images and ideas Info remains for 20 30 seconds and then disappears unless actively preventing that o Example trying to remember the meaningless letters X C J If repeating it will stay in WM but when you stop they will soon be forgotten o Levels of Processing Model Maintenance Repetition Superficial Elaborative What does it mean In my own words Connections GIVING MORE MEANING How does this model relate to students study strategies Assignment readings Inefficient all are inefficient because you do not use the retrieval process LOWER LEVEL OF MAINTENANCE o Highlighting o Summarizing o Rereading Efficient o Testing Practice Tests Retrieval identifies what you do not know or do not have in long term and pulls it back into working memory so you can think about it o Distributed Practice Studying overtime Reinforces every time you read and use the material o Relations and Connections o Long Term Memory Potentially Limitless Different Types Explicit declarative my name is His name is The sky is My birthday is o Episodic specific to personal experience Time and place Episodes of my life o Semantic factual recall Independent of personal experience the first prez was The definition of blank is Implicit memory we are not consciously aware of o Motor Memory can type something but cannot remember it o Fear learning If I meet someone and I have a needle in my hand and I shake their hand it pricks them they wont want to shake my hand next time o Attitudes Feelings Behaviors wanting to be nice to someone because they look like someone you know like Prospective Remembering to remember something o I have to remember to take my medicine tonight o Remembering the sequence of events How Can long term memory be organized By meaning o Encode with meaning and the better organized and remembered Schemas cognitive structures that help us perceive organize and use info o Helps us to tell what is important and relevant and puzzle together the info to make sense o How to chunk info What is memory Consolidation and Re consolidation Consolidation Fire Together Wire Together o Every time we learn something it leaves a ohysical trace in our brains Strengthened Connections more dendrites being branched and greater speed of transmission through the myelin sheath in the axons Process Called Consolidation Immediate short term memory and consolidate into long term memories o Strongly influenced by the amount of sleep Reconsolidation Retrieving from long term memory and putting into working memory for current use and then re encode while elaborating more to long term memory o What are some factors to consider when we recognize that memories go through re consolidation They can become distorted because you may re encode with by adding wrong information Types of Amnesias Retrograde Amnesia a condition in people lose past memories such as memories for events facts people or even personal information o Lucy 50 first dates Anterograde Amnesia a condition in which people lose the ability to form new memories Seven Sins of Memory 1 Transience a type forgetting b definition reduced memory over time c example forgetting the plot of a movie b Definition inability to remember needed information c Example failing to recall the name of a person you meet on the 2 Blocking a Type forgetting street 3 Absentmindedness a type forgetting 4 Persistence a Type undesirable 5 Misattribution a Type Distortion b definition reduced memory due to failing to pay attention c example losing your keys or forgetting a lunch date b Definition the resurgence of unwanted or disturbing memories that we would like to forget c Example remembering an embarrassing faux pas b Definition assigning a memory to the wrong source c Example Falsely thinking that Richard Shiffrin is famous because his name is well known 6 Bias a Type distortion events b Definition influence of current knowledge on our memory for past c Example remembering past attitudes as similar to current attitudes even though they have changed 7 Suggestibility a Type distortion b Definition altering a memory because of misleading information c Example developing false memories for events that did not happen Accuracy of Eyewitness Testimony and How people are Questioned o Eyewitness testimony Relies on people paying sufficient attention to relevant details but crimes are spontaneous and quick Factors to consider for eyewitness memories People are not good at identifying cross ethnicities Confidence is not accuracy o